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Road trip: Top 10 best USA road trips revealed - which would you choose?

Road trip: Top 10 best USA road trips to do during your holiday in America (Image: Getty Images)

ROAD trips are a fantastic way to explore the incredible landscape and cities of the USA. From Nevada and Hawaii, to Tennessee and Maryland, these are the top 10 best road trips in America to enjoy if you go on holiday.

Road trips in the USA are famously an excellent way to explore the vast states of America.

Depending on where you head, so many breathtaking landscapes and vibrant cities can be visited, such as you would never find in the UK.

The top 10 best road trips in the US have been unveiled. There’s something for everyone, whether you want to visit the Everglades in Florida, explore the Northern Atlantic coast, or explore the music scene in New Orleans.

Florida: Orlando to Key Largo

Although it’s fondly known as the theme park capital of the United States, there’s a lot more to Florida than colossal coasters. Hop in your car for a grand tour of the Sunshine State, checking out Kennedy Space Centre, Miami, the untamed beauty of the Everglades and the stunning county of Palm Beaches.

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Hugging the east coast of Florida, from north to South, the route is a total of 905 miles over the course of 10 days. With highlights including Kissimmee, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, visitors can also take a trip down memory lane at Delray Beach in Palm Beach County. Home to the famous SilverBall Museum, a collection of more than 100 classic pinball machines and arcade games, rediscover the joy of racking up points on the pinball table on the best-known blasters.

Route:

Kissimmee, Orlando

Three Sisters Springs

Kennedy Space Center

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Silverball Museum, Delray Beach

Miami

Everglades National Park

Maryland's Frederick Douglass Driving Tour

This driving tour starts on the Eastern Shore and takes you through Annapolis and Baltimore. 2018 is the “Year of Frederick Douglass” in honour of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the famed abolitionist, writer, and orator.

Route:

Eastern shore, Beloved birthplace and triumphant homecoming

Annapolis

Baltimore

College Park

Washington D.C

Maryland’s Historic Road

The Historic National Road (also known as the National Pike) was America's first federally financed road building project. It served as the gateway for the early settlers and the American westward expansion. It is now one of America's National Scenic Byways, a scenic but less-often-travelled road.

Experience it for yourself over two days, stopping to see highlights along the way. 170 miles allow you to see where city streets give way to highways between quaint towns from Baltimore to the Pennsylvania line.

Route:

Casselman River Bridge State Park

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad

Great Allegheny Passage

Fort Frederick State Park

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum

Northern Atlantic Coast

Explore some of the USA’s most iconic cities, charming towns and historic areas on the 1,600-kilometre Northern Atlantic Coast drive. The six-day journey kicks off in Boston, one of the oldest cities in America, and ends in Washington, D.C, the nation’s capital.

Strap in for an unforgettable journey through America’s history and enjoy some of the most dynamic urban areas the USA has to offer, all while hugging the scenic East Coast. What to bring: an extra memory card for pictures, comfortable shoes for exploring the city and curiosity about the USA’s past.

Route:

Boston, Massachusetts

Newport, Rhode Island

New York City, New York

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Ocean City, Maryland

Williamsburg, Virginia

Washington DC

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Road trip: Explore the untamed beauty of the Everglades on a road trip through Florida (Image: Getty Images)

Changing the Course of Freedom: A Civil Rights History Tour

Through this itinerary through the American South that includes the birth home of Martin Luther King Jr. and the site of his assassination, you’ll meet the soldiers of the civil rights movement – children, colleagues, clergy and others – in memorials, museums and historic sites along the way. The full route through five states will take between one and two weeks.

Route:

Birmingham, Alabama

Tuskegee, Alabama

Selma, Alabama

Montgomery, Alabama

Jackson, Mississippi

Little Rock, Arkansas

Memphis, Tennessee

Atlanta, Georgia

The Blues Highway

The legendary Blues Highway is an unforgettable journey from Nashville, Tennessee to New Orleans, Louisiana, with music around every corner. From the birthplaces of celebrated artists and vinyl record shops to recording venues and Southern culinary delights, every stop on the six-day journey has a story to tell.

Route:

Nashville, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Tunica, Mississippi

Clarksdale, Mississippi

New Orleans, Louisiana

Going Down the Great River Road

The beating heart of America lies in its great middle. The pulsing artery of the nation is the Mississippi River and following its path by car provides a unique and unforgettable view of this nation. Control of the river was a key factor in determining who won the U.S. Civil War. The Mississippi stretches from its headwaters in icy Lake Itasca in Northwestern Minnesota and flows more than 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) to the Gulf of Mexico, fed by dozens of tributaries along the way.

A one to two week trip down the Great River Road, a series of thoroughfares stretching from Minnesota to Louisiana, is an opportunity to experience a wide range of American regional culture and the eclectic diversity of its people. To understand the river is to understand the USA.

Route:

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Potosi, Wisconsin

Le Claire, Iowa

Hannibal, Missouri

Saint Louis, Missouri

Memphis, Tennessee

Natchez, Mississippi

New Orleans, Louisiana

The Yellowstone Loop

A vast, scenic landscape provides the timeless backdrop for the western United States.

Mountains rise against big blue skies, geysers and hot springs bubble up from the earth, and wildlife abounds. Appreciative residents live among it all in manageable yet exciting cities and towns. Near the middle of the West region, you’ll find Yellowstone National Park, one of the highlights of the U.S. National Park system.

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Road trip: In New Orleans, Louisiana there is music around every corner (Image: Getty Images)

Top 10 adventure holidays in the USA

10. A 4x4 tour of monument valley with Navajo guide

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9. Fast paced mountain biking in Grand Teton National Park

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8. Hike 40 miles of world’s longest hiking-only trail

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7. Horseback riding from an American ranch in Yellowstone

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6. Sea kayaking with dolphins in Alaska

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5. Rafting the entire length of the Grand Canyon

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4. Snorkelling excursion in Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii

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3. Sandboarding down the tallest dune in the USA, Colorado

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2. Snowshoeing and wolf tracking in Yellowstone, Wyoming

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1. Canyoneering in Utah

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An ideal way to experience everything the region has to offer is to take a two-week road trip through the states of Utah, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho that showcases Yellowstone and offers a chance to explore so much more of what the West has to offer.

Route:

Salt Lake City, Utah

Ogden, Utah

Brigham City, Utah

Logan, Utah

Bear Lake, Utah

West Yellowstone, Montana

Pocatello, Idaho

Lava Hot Springs, Idaho

Flaming Gorge, Utah

Vernal, Utah

Park City, Utah

Hawaii

Along Maui's rugged eastern coastline is the peaceful town of Hana, 52 miles from Kahului. The Hāna Highway (HI-360) connects the two towns and boasts 620 curves and 59 bridges, taking travellers along the edge of sheer cliffs and passing through rainforests, waterfalls, plunge pools and dramatic seascapes.

The journey can take anywhere from two to four hours to complete due to the narrow one-lane bridges and hairpin turns, but the best way to enjoy the road trip is to pick a few sights to see each day and stay overnight. Travellers can enjoy fresh pineapple and banana bread from food trucks along the road, as well as admire the variety of flowers and trees that can be found thriving in Maui’s 17 climate zones.

Route:

Hāna Highway, Maui

Route 50

Take a trip along America’s loneliest road, Route 50, stretching for 287 miles across the desert. This is the ultimate off-the-beaten-track adventure, as you won’t see another soul for miles, only breath-taking views and an empty road.

Don’t miss the Grand Basin National Park with 18 separate mountain ranges, the ghosts of old mining towns and the Hickson Petroglyph Recreation Area with 10,000-year-old rock carvings. A stop definitely not to miss along the route is the iconic Shoe Tree of Middlegate where generations of passers-by have strung up their shoes.